Plot

The class has taken the bus to a rural area, planning to walk the rest of the way to an unnamed picnic area to have a picnic. Miss Simian outlines the route they will take, specifically stating three times to avoid the Forest of Doom. The camera zooms in to Gumball and Darwin, who were sitting in the back having trouble hearing Miss Simian. Gumball mistakenly believes that they are supposed to go through The Forest of Doom. Miss Simian and the rest of the class leave before he can confirm this with her. Gumball and Darwin are left to travel through The Forest of Doom by themselves. Gumball, being a self-proclaimed survival expert, feels confident.

After three warnings that they are going somewhere dangerous (first an evil laughing tree, next squirrels who deviously smile at the plan of eating their deceased carcasses and say that Gumball & Darwin will never get out alive, lastly the wind telling them twice that they are going the wrong way), they end up at a cliff, lost.

Gumball then attempts to follow Miss Simian's smell, the way a dog would. Using their senses of smell, they pick up a scent similar to Miss Simian's, so they follow it. It turns out to be a stinky outhouse.

Next, they decide to find their way using the stars. Darwin remarks that there are no stars, only the sun. Gumball reminds him that the sun is a star. And so they stare at it for a while to try to find their way. Obviously, it ends up burning their eyes. Their eyes burning from the staring at the sun, the duo starts running and screaming, coincidentally right past Miss Simian and the rest of the class. Miss Simian leads them on as Gumball and Darwin run by. They run into a tree and fall to the floor. Gumball finally admits that they are lost.

Gumball and Darwin sit by the tree. Gumball feels sad at how he is not as good a survivalist as he thought he was, while Darwin remains optimistic, trying to cheer Gumball up. Darwin then suggests lunch, bringing out his lunchbox full of fish flakes and diet fish flakes, but Gumball throws it away and tells Darwin that they can get much better food out in "nature's supermarket". He explains the structure of food in a silly way:

"Everything is made from little bits. The bits themselves are made from the smallest bits of all: Circles! Circles with other little circles going around them. So, since everything is made from circles, then so is food!"

He demonstrates this concept by attempting to eat a rock. He and Darwin both bite the rock at the same time. Both of their teeth shatter. They decide to try eating something else. Darwin points out a deer, and they plot to kill and eat it. Gumball says that he is a predator, and he has claws. He then attempts to roar (but only ends up meowing).

The two of them sneak up to the deer. When they finally reach it, Gumball hesitates, stopped by either his conscience or the creature's smelly behind. He tells Darwin to attack it first. So Darwin "fish slaps" it with his fin. It does nothing but anger the creature, which was not a deer, but some hideous, green, quadrupedal chicken. Gumball and Darwin shy away, pretending the slap was a mistake.

They retreat to a tree, where they find a smaller, more manageable animal to feast on: a one-eyed, colorful caterpillar. As Gumball brings the creature to his mouth, Darwin begs him to spare its life because it is cute. After looking at the worm's crying face and taking the same feeling, Gumball agrees and lets the caterpillar go. As it slithers away, they yell out encouragement to it. Suddenly, a fish-bird swoops down and grabs the worm. The bird gets eaten by a tentacled koala. The tentacled Koala gets eaten by a gryphon. The gryphon gets eaten by a huge moose-like creature. All of this happens in the span of 20 seconds, and Gumball and Darwin stare in silent horror as it goes on. As if the mere horror of watching this unfold was not enough, Gumball and Darwin figure out they’re at the bottom of the food chain, and the moose-like predator starts chasing them.

Immediately they run up a tree, thinking they lost the creature. Suddenly, they hear a growl, but find out it was just Darwin's stomach expressing its hunger. After a few complaints from Darwin about hunger and cold, Gumball decides to make a fire to warm them.

Back on the ground, Gumball tries making a fire using a bow drill. He spins the stick as fast as he can, but only manages to ignite his hands, causing him to run around in a panic. As he runs around, the fire starts where he intended it to. The two exchange a quick high five, after which rain starts pouring down on them, dousing the fire. Now cold and even hungrier, the two huddle up around the tree.

Meanwhile, at the picnic area, the kids that followed Miss Simian are stuffed, having had three servings of quintuple-decker sandwiches and getting ready for a fourth.

Back at the Forest of Doom, Gumball and Darwin still complain of their hunger, when Darwin suddenly attacks Gumball, apparently intending to eat him, though, in actuality, he successfully eats Gumball's clothes, leaving Gumball naked. Gumball's voice has an echo while the birds fly away. An argument ensues after Darwin repeatedly reminds Gumball that he threw away their only food. Gumball eventually starts berating Darwin and sets out on his own. In his anger, he did not notice he was walking off a cliff. After a painful fall, he finds himself in an even scarier area of the forest, with predators surrounding and circling him. The three predators show themselves and start slowly and menacingly moving toward Gumball. All Gumball can do is beg for someone to save him. Suddenly, Darwin jumps down and, in a macho voice, announces his intentions to protect his teammate. When the monsters ignore his warnings, he "fish slaps" the biggest one and scolds it, causing it to run away crying. The other two follow suit after another threat from Darwin. Gumball and Darwin make up, and they continue on to the picnic (with Darwin carrying Gumball on his back because Gumball twisted his ankle during the fall).

After an unspecified amount of time, they arrive at the picnic, looking starved and disheveled. They spot a garbage can full of trash and immediately dive into it, eating all the scraps of food they can find. The kids are horrified at the sight of this, and Leslie points this out to Miss Simian, who nonchalantly dismisses it and announces that the picnic is over and they need to head back to the bus. Once again, she stresses out going around the forest of doom. Gumball and Darwin, gorging themselves on garbage, did not hear this. As they peek out of the garbage can, satisfied with their meal, they discover everyone gone. Then the episode ends with Darwin asking whether they need to go through the Forest of Doom, or around it.

Characters

Main Characters

Supporting Characters

Minor Characters

Trivia

Leslie's voice does not match up with his previous appearances. This is another instance where a character's voice sounds inconsistent between episodes, a problem inherent to the first season.

During the picnic, less people were seen than were shown to be on the bus.

This episode has The Forest of Doom's first episode appearance.

This is the first time a character dies on screen, in this case, some of The Creatures.

A rerun of this episode aired on Cartoon Planet's 107th episode on November 24, 2013.

The Creatures use monster sound effects from Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

Continuity

This episode taps a little bit into Gumball and Darwin's animal roots, such as Gumball having claws and Darwin eating food in flake form. A similar instance with Darwin happened in "The Party," when he showed he was part suckerfish.

This is the first time Gumball literally meows like an actual cat. He does it again in "The Fight."

Cultural References

The wind whispering to Gumball and Darwin "You're Going The Wrong Way" mostly likely is a reference to this scene from the 1987 John Hughes film Plains, Trains and Automobiles.

The explanation of food leading to everything being connected in a "Circle of Life" refers to the song from the 1994 Disney film The Lion King.

Goofs/Errors

Near the end of the episode, Darwin eats Gumball's clothes, leaving him naked. But when Gumball pops out of the trash can, he has his clothes back.

When everyone on the bus says, "Yes, Miss Simian," Tina Rex does not have any teeth.

When both Gumball and Darwin say "bye-bye" to the caterpillar, Gumball does not have any whiskers.

In the beginning, Darwin's shadows are missing.

When the monsters are about to attack Gumball, two of those monsters were supposedly eaten by the one-eyed moose (although it could be that the moose spat them out off-screen, or they may be different creatures altogether).

When the monsters were about to eat Gumball, his mouth was the wrong color.

When Gumball and Darwin were shown on the bus, their outlines were animated differently.

When Gumball and Darwin were sneaking up on the creature, Gumball's left hand was black.

When Gumball and Darwin were watching the monsters eat each other, Darwin's right arm was black.

In the end of the episode, when Gumball and Darwin's outlines are shown, they both appear to be walking together. However, in the next shot, Gumball is on Darwin's shoulders.

Inside the bus

[The episode starts on a bus with Miss Simian and her class]

Lucy Simian: Everyone, look at your maps. This is the route we'll be taking to the picnic area. We go along the path, avoiding the Forest of Doom, down the ravine, avoiding the Forest of Doom, along the lake, still avoiding the Forest of Doom, and arrive at the picnic area. Understand?

Students: Yes, Miss Simian.

Darwin: Did she say avoid or go through the Forest of Doom?

Gumball: [Sighs] What would you do without me, Darwin? She said go through the Forest of Doom. Am I right, or am I right, Miss Simian?

Gumball and Darwin: [Looking toward the front of the bus] Huh? They're gone!

Gumball: Don't worry, buddy. Stick with me, and you'll be just fine. We'll get to that picnic area long before they do.

Circles

Darwin: But we're still alive. Hungry, cold, and lost, but alive! And we're still a team! I know you can get us out of here. Let's have lunch; you'll feel better. [Pulls out a lunchbox] Fish flakes or diet fish flakes?

Gumball: You're right, buddy! I am a survivor, and I will get us to the picnic!

Darwin: Can I have the diet fish flakes?

Gumball: You don't wanna eat that! [Grabs lunchbox and throws it over his shoulder where it crashes into something] Not when you're in the middle of nature's supermarket.

Darwin: What?

Gumball: [Rolls his eyes and sighs] Look at this tree, Darwin. It's made from little bits...which themselves are made from the smallest bits of all: circles. Circles with other little circles going around. So, since everything is made from circles, then so is food. Which means this rock is exactly the same as a chicken nugget, so let's eat it!

[They bite into it and break their teeth and Gumball sighs]

Darwin: Chicken nuggets taste like rock.

Gumball: Don't worry, dude, there's loads of stuff made of circles. That's why it's called the "circle of life."

[Gumball and Darwin watch in horror and disgust as a bird swoops down and snatches up the caterpillar, then as a bigger monster eats the bird, then as that monster is eaten by another monster, which is eaten by another monster]

Darwin: That was horrible.

Gumball: Well, it's nature's way, Darwin. He was at the bottom of the food chain.

Darwin: Who's at the bottom now?

[The monster notices them and smiles evilly, causing them to run to the top of a tree]

Gumball: I think he's gone. [A loud noise is heard] What was that?

Darwin: It's my tummy.

Gumball: Well, stop it. You're gonna attract another predator!

Darwin: But I'm hungry.

Gumball: Will you please stop talking about food?

Darwin: Okay. [He pauses] I'm cold.

Gumball: [Sighs] Fine, let's make a fire.

[Gumball tries to make a fire by rubbing a stick on a log]

Darwin: Faster!

[Gumball goes faster]

Darwin: Faster!

[Gumball goes faster]

Darwin: Faster!

[Gumball goes faster before screeching and stopping]

Gumball: Useless! It's never gonna work! [His hands catch on fire and he begins screaming and running around while crying]

[Gumball tries to put the fire out on his hands, and Darwin stares at the log then a fire starts]

Darwin: Gumball, it worked!

Gumball: Of course it did. I told you I was a born survivor. Good work, team.

Darwin: High five! [They high five and it begins to rain, extinguishing their fire. Darwin and Gumball's stomachs growl] I'm really hungry.

Gumball: Yeah, me too.

[Right next to Gumball and Darwin is the picnic picnic area, where it is not raining]

The team splits up, then reconciles

Gumball: [Stomach growls] Ugh, I'm so hungry! I think I've started to digest myself. And there's no food around here for miles!

Darwin: [Evilly] Oh, yes there is. [Looks at Gumball]

Gumball: What?

[Darwin attacks him, and Gumball screams, scaring some birds out of the tree above them. The sound of Darwin eating something is heard off-screen]

Gumball: What is wrong with you?! You ate all my clothes!

Darwin: Well, maybe you shouldn't have thrown away my lunchbox.

Gumball: Yeah, I know. I'm sorry.

Darwin: You wouldn't be naked if I had my lunchbox.

Gumball: Yeah, yeah, I get it.

Darwin: I sure wish I had my lunchbox.

Gumball: [In a high-pitched voice] Ah, lunchbox, lunchbox, lunchbox! [Normal voice] Ah, you just don't get it, do you! You're holding me back! You're on your own! See you later, buddy! You can find your own way to the picnic!

Darwin: But I thought we were a team.

Gumball: I don't need anyone on my team! I am a born survivor! [Slips and falls down a cliff] See? I survived. [Creature growls and scares him, then three creatures advance toward Gumball, who is surrounded] Somebody please help me!